Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-07-09
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BRooKLYN DIvINE's SUN.
DAY SERMON.



a0Sth a loud roice Ghd stopped tAelr
ears, and run upon HIM witA 0he aee0Tst,
and cast HIM ont Of the eitg. and slowed
HIM; and the uritnsSses iaid dowm their
clothes at O young HtaR's feet, whose naMe
sVaS Sdht And they stoned Stephea, esslaiag
upon God, and saNi,sq. lord .issn1S,' rressrs
mn spirit And he kRee(ed down, 0lae cred
tCtth a loud uoicc, Lord, Cog not thls SSR "a
their charge. ARd wAen ne had sad tASS,
he feH asleep. Acts vii. stS6s0
Stephen had been preaching q r0siSing ser
mon, and the people could not stand it, They
resolved to do as men sometimes would hike to
do in this day, if they dared with some plain
preacher Of Righteousness kill HIM The
only way to silence this man waS to
knock the breath out Of him So they rushed
Stephen out of the gates Of the city, and with
curse, and whoop, and below they brought
him to the cliff, as was the custom whea they
wanted to take away life BY Stoning, Having
brought him to the edge Of the ellff they
pushed him off. After he had falleN they
came and looked down. and Seeing that h.
was not yet dead, they began to drop stones
upon him, stone after stone, stone after Stone,
Amid this rain of missiles Stephen chambers
up on his knees AMI folds his hands. while
the blood drips from his temples to his checks,
from his cheeks TO his garments, from his gar
uents to the grounds and then. hooking UP
he makes two prayerS-0ne for himself and
one for his murdererS. "LOrd Jesus receive
tl.l
not this sin to their Charge that was for his
assailantS. Then. from pain aud loss Of blood,
he swoOned away and fell aSlsep
want to show YOU to-day five pictures
stephen gazing into heaven Stephen hook
ing at Christ. stephen stoned Stephen in
his dying prayer, Stephen asleep
First, look at Stephen gazing into heaven.
Before you take hap YOU want to know
where YOU are going to lanfl Before YOU
climb ladder YOU want to know to what
point the ladder reaches, And il Was right
that stephen within a few moments Il
heaven. should be gazing into it. We wOaA
all do well to he found in the same poStMrN
There is enough in heaven to keep US gazing,
A man of large wealth may have Statuarv in
the hall, and paintings In the sitting F@OaN>
and works OF art in all parts Of the house, halG
he has the chief pictures in the art gallery,
and there, hour after hour, YOU walk with
catalogue and glass snd ever Increasing al,
mlratlon Well, heaven Is the gallery where
God has gathered the chief treasures Il HIS
realm The whole universe is His alaeeA In this
lower room where we stop therN are many
adornmentS; teSsellated floor Of amethyst
and blossom, and on the winding eloNA-Stairs
are stretched out canvas ON which e0nAmAlMghs
azure, and purple, and 'tfFoa, ami g0Aa,
but heaven IS the gallery i'm which the ehber
glorieS are gathered There are the brightest
robes There are the richest CROWNS fheye
are the highest exhllaratiOnS John SAYS Of
it; THE kings of the earth shall
bring their honor and glory into ii. -
And | see the procession fOTtnlng, AMI in
the line come all empires, and the stars St,Finss
up into an arch for the hestS to march under,
They keepstep to the sound Of earthquake and
the pitch of avalanche from the mountains
and the flag they bear is the flame Of a con,
summing world, and all heaven turns ont with
harps and trumpets and myriad voiced ae-
elimination of angelic dominion to welcome
fhnr1 in go
their honor and glory into it. Do ven WON
der that good people often stand like STEPHEN.
looking into beavens We have a great
many friends there. There is not a
man in this house TODAY 50
Isolated in life, but there Is some one in
heaven with whom he once shook hands, As
man gets older, the number Of his celestial
acquaintance very rapidly mNltiplsS We
have not had one glimpse Of them SiFee the
night we kissed them good bye ami they went
away: but still we stand gazing at heaven
AS when some of our friends so across the
sea, we stand on the dock, or on the steam
tug. and watch them. and after awhile the
hulk Of the vessel disappears, ami then there
IS only patch of sail on the sky. ami s@on
that is gone, and they are all out Of SIGHT,
and yet we stand hooking i'm the Sanse
direction; so when our friends 80
away from us into the future world ~,
keep looking down through the NarrOwS. and
that they would come out and stand on S0ss.e
evening cloud. AMI give US NE glimpse Of
their bllsSful and TRANSPORTED faces While
you long to Join their cOlnpaniORShiKA ami tho
years and the days so with such tesiiur0 that
phey break your heart, and the viper Of nam.
and sorrow and bereavement keeps gnawiag,
at your vitals, YOU still stand. like Sts~
phen, gazing into heaven You wonder
II they have changed since YOU saw them last
You wonder if they would recognize N0,ar.
face now, so changed has il been with tF0sll,l,
You wonder if, amid the mvrtad delights
they have, they care as much for YOU as theV
used to when they gave YOU helpina, hand
and put their shoulder under your barSass,S
You wonder if they look any oliers and som,q.,
time, IN the evening tide, when the hNl,sse Is
all quiet, You wonder if You should call them
by their first name if they would not answer,
and perhaps sometimes YOU do make the ex.
pertinent, and when no one but God and vOar,
self are there you distinctly call their Ralns.
heaven.
Pass ON now, and see Stephen looking upoa
Christ. My text says he saw the Son 81 Man
at the right hand OF God just how Chris
looked in this world, Just how he hooks in
heaven, we cannot say. A writer ia the time
OF Christ says. describing thu SavtGar'S pr
sonal appearance, that He mad blue eyes ami
light complexion, and a very graceful Ssruet-
ure. but l suppose il was all guess work
The painters of different ages have tried In
imagine the features Of Christ. and put tlaeaa,
upon canvass but we will have to wait until
with our own eyes We see hun and With our
own ears we can hear Him Aud VT there
Is way Of seeing and hearing Him row.
have to tell You that unlesS WA
see and hear Christ ON earth. y0a
viii never see and hear Him in heaVens
y. There he is. BehOld the laanNh Il
q Can you not see Hunt Then pray In
Go TO take the scahes OIL your ewes Lock
that way-try to look that way. His V0iee
comes down TO yOu this day-e0mes down 10
the blindest. 10 the deafest soul. saving
Look unto Me, all We ends u the earth, ansl
be We saved, for am God. and there IS noa,e
else" Proclamation Of universal emaneita.
tlon for all slaves. Proclamation Of universal
amnesty for ali rebels AhasneruS gathered
the Babylonish mobiles to his table, tseorse l.
entertained the lords Of England at a ham
quet; Napoleon III. welcomed the Car II
Russia and the Sultan If Turkey to his feast
the Emperor of Germany was gislt0 have eur
minister. George Bancroft sit down with
him at his table; but tell me. We Who krraw
most Of the worlds history. What other king
ever asked the abandoned, AMI the fOrlosss.
and the wretehed. AMI the Onteast. h e0n,s
and SIT down beside him. O. WONDERFUL IN
vitationl You can take il today. amt
stand at the head Of the darkest ALLY in an
this city, ami saw; s'COmel Cfothes f0r
WOur RAGS gafva. for x,rtr ..,r..s r.. -